


The Time Magnus Was left Home With All Four Children

by heartsdesire456



Series: Max Two 'Verse [15]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Babies, Family, Gen, M/M, Parenthood, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-29 22:03:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7701460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus really thought he would be fine on his own with all four children.</p>
<p>Magnus was also <i>extremely</i> wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Time Magnus Was left Home With All Four Children

**Author's Note:**

> This wasn't the planned next one, but something somebody said in a comment last fic made me think of this. Also there's a bit that came from my friend and I talking. Anyways, hopefully you'll enjoy this one!

Magnus really thought he would be fine on his own with all four children.

Magnus was also _extremely_ wrong.

“No, no, no,” Magnus shifted Jamila, who had just finished her bottle, and looked over at Iman, who had started crying. “No, don’t you cry, too. Oh, hold on.” He laid Iman down on the blanket beside Jamila where they had been on the floor, playing, and ran to put the current bottle in the sink and grab a fresh one to heat up. 

When he got back, he looked down, only to freeze. Both babies were crying now, again, and thinking back, he wasn’t entirely sure which one he had already fed. “Okay, okay. Think, think think,” he said, grabbing the nearest baby (Jamila? He thought it was Jamila. He really needed to get better at this) and picked her up. “Here, here you go, some nice milk for you,” he said, giving her the bottle as he sat on the couch and rubbed the other baby’s tummy lightly with his toes. “Awwww, shhhhh, it’s okay, Iman. Papa’s here. I’ve just gotta feed your sister first and then I’ll change you.”

He looked down at Jamila when she knocked the bottle out of her mouth, and immediately threw up. Everywhere. “Oh! Oh God!” He held her up so she didn’t choke and, instead, she puked not only on him, but all over her sister on the floor. “Oh God, shit, shit.” He turned his head. “RAFAEL! RAFAEL COME HERE!”

Max and Rafael both came running while he tried to quiet Jamila’s loud crying at being covered in puke. “Ewwww,” Max said, looking at Magnus and both babies. “What did you _do_?” he asked incredulously.

Magnus whimpered helplessly. “I don’t know,” he confessed, looking down at Iman. “Rafael, I need you to go get a warm wash cloth and more clothes for your sisters, okay? Max, help your brother,” he instructed as he knelt down on the floor, laying Jamila down again. “I’m so sorry,” he said, laying her beside her sister as he took both of their little onesies off. “I think I fed Jamila twice and Iman zero times, so once you guys are all clean, I’ll get right on feeding you, Iman,” he promised.

When Rafael returned with a wet cloth and Max with two little blue and pink onesies, Magnus stripped his own shirt off and took the cloth to clean both of the girls off and then his own sticky, gross chest. “Alright, c’mere,” he said, picking Iman up. He worked on getting her into her onesie and then laid her down to do the same with Jamila. “There we go. We’ve got this,” he said, standing up after he picked up Iman again. “Third time is the charm with a bottle, huh, Immi?” he asked, taking her to the kitchen. “Rafael, can you please help me out and take those dirty clothes to put in the laundry?” he asked and Rafael did as he was told just before Magnus went to the kitchen. 

He started heating up Iman’s bottle, bouncing her as she cried, quieting her to a soft whimper.

He had just finished with her bottle and put it in her mouth for her to drink hungrily when suddenly there was an ear-splitting wail from Jamila in the living room, the kind that made his blood run cold as a parent, the kind that was _not_ normal. He rushed out, only to see Max kneeling beside her and rubbing her little tummy as he took panicked little gasps. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“Max?! What happened?” Magnus asked, rushing over. He lay Iman down and carefully picked Jamila up. She was screaming herself out of breath before taking giant gasps to do so again, and he felt her over, carefully checking with magic to be sure she wasn’t hurt. “Max?”

Max, in turn _burst into tears_. “She- she was crying and- and I wanted to make her feel better, and I picked her up but- but I _dropped her_!” he wailed, his little shoulders heaving as he sobbed in a way Magnus hadn’t seen him cry since he was far smaller. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I just didn’t want her to be sad, I- I’m a horrible big brother!” he cried, and before Magnus could do anything he took off running, little feet pounding down the hall only to be followed by the loud ‘bang’ of his bedroom door slamming shut. 

The sound of the door shutting set both babies off in another big round of squalling and Rafael came running this time, looking so worried. “What happened?!” he asked quickly, and Magnus just groaned.

“Rafael, go after your brother. Tell him Jamila is _fine_ , okay?” he instructed and Rafael nodded, running after Max. Magnus looked down at Iman, who was still squalling because she was hungry and Max’s door was loud, and Jamila screaming most likely out of fear more than anything. Max was so small he couldn’t have dropped her more than a foot and she landed on the soft floor extra cushioned by the play-pad. She had no injuries, no scrapes of any sort, so Magnus was confident she was entirely fine and just scared by being dropped.

He looked towards the ceiling with a whimper before grabbing the bottle and Iman again, settling right there on the floor to feed her, so at least she didn’t get off schedule. “I don’t know how on earth your daddy does this, Immi,” he said, throat tightening as he looked down at her. “No idea.”

~

When Alec got home, he was somewhat surprised by how quiet it was. However, as soon as he kicked off his shoes and hung up his jacket, he rounded the corner and found Iman and Jamila asleep on the floor and Magnus asleep on the floor right beside them stripped down to his boxers. They were surrounded by so much mess. There were toys and clothes and only one baby had on a onesie and Magnus’s pants were on the floor. Not to mention, there was a bottle on its side, slowly dripping onto the carpet to join the rest of what Alec could only suspect was infant vomit. 

“Magnus?” he asked, walking over to crouch beside him. “Babe-“

Magnus flailed some, sitting up quickly while slurring, “Don’t put that in your mouth.” He looked around, blinking sleepily. “Somebody peed somewhere on this floor. Not sure if it was Captain Whiskers or a baby. Or maybe I did it. Nope, not me, my pants are… gone?” He frowned down at his bare legs and looked around, still clearly half-asleep. He looked at Alec and his eyes focused before he lunged at him. “Oh thank God!” he whimpered, wrapping his arms around Alec, hanging off of him. “Oh God, don’t leave me. Ever. If you ever die on me, I’m going to follow your ass into the afterlife and murder you again for leaving me.”

Alec frowned, patting his back. “Magnus, are you okay?” Magnus just whimpered against his chest and he looked over at the babies, still asleep. “Magnus, what happened in here?”

Magnus whined, pulling away with big, sad eyes. “I’m a terrible father. I can’t do this, Alec, I can’t take care of them alone.” He tried to stand, and Alec quickly stood and pulled him to his feet. “C’mon. For the love of God, don’t wake them up,” he said, tugging Alec towards the hallway. Alec picked up the baby bottles and dirty clothes at least, taking them with him as he followed Magnus. When he found him, Magnus was getting in the shower. 

“Magnus, are you okay?” Alec asked, and Magnus scoffed at Alec, who leaned against the sink, watching him duck under the water and groan. “What happened with the kids?”

“I’m a shitty parent,” Magnus said bitterly. “The girls never stopped crying for a second the entire time you were gone until they fell asleep. I’m running Rafael ragged, because he wants to help, so he basically spent all morning rushing around getting things or doing stuff for me because I had no free hands. Max has locked himself in his room with Rafael and won’t stop crying-“

“What?!” Alec asked in surprise. “What happened?”

Magnus leaned against the shower wall, closing his eyes. “At one point, I had fed Jamila and I put her down to go get a bottle for Iman, only when I got back, I couldn’t remember who I fed, so I fed Jamila twice-“ Alec winced. “And she threw up everywhere, and Iman was still hungry-crying, so Jamila is covered in puke, I’m covered in puke, Iman has some puke on her because Jamila and I were standing beside her, I put Jamila down and got Rafael to go get clean clothes for them, and Iman was still so hungry so I took her to get another bottle, but Max couldn’t stand his baby sister laying on the floor just crying, so he came and picked Jamila up to try and comfort her,” Magnus said and Alec smiled at the thought. “Only he dropped her, because she was slippery with baby puke,” Magnus said and Alec’s eyes widened.

“Shit, is she okay-“

“Jamila is fine,” Magnus said quickly. “Max is short and the floor is soft and she didn’t land on her head or hurt herself in any way, but unsurprisingly, being dropped is terrifying, so she was screaming like I’ve never heard a baby scream before and Max started _bawling_ about how he’s a horrible big brother and he ran away crying and I sent Rafael after him, and they’ve been locked in Max’s room ever since and, last I heard, Max still hasn’t stopped crying,” Magus finished sadly. “He didn’t mean to hurt her, and she isn’t hurt, but he just feels so bad and I didn’t have time to go do anything about it, because Iman was still hungry and Jamila was still screaming and by the time I finally got them to calm down, they fell asleep and I just curled up on the floor for a good ‘I’m a horrible father’ cry myself.”

Alec shook his head, looking at Magnus’s outline in the shower. “Magnus, you’re not a horrible father just because you overestimated handling four children at once,” he said gently.

Magnus shut off the water and climbed out, taking the towel Alec handed him. “Then why can you do it and I can’t?” he asked with a guilty look in his eyes. “You’re like Super Dad and I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to make sure our children all stay alive for a few hours while you’re gone!”

Alec smiled comfortingly, reaching out to take Magnus’s towel and scrub his hair with it and then wrap it around his shoulders, tugging him close. “I have done the baby thing twice before. Once as a thirteen years older brother and once as a young and clueless father.” He kissed Magnus’s forehead. “It is harder with twins, Magnus, and I’ve done it twice before.”

Magnus leaned against Alec’s chest, not caring he was still naked and damp and Alec was fully clothed. “I think next time you have to go anywhere, I might kill myself,” he mumbled and Alec rolled his eyes, hugging him close.

“You will not,” he said with a smile and Magnus chuckled against his chest. “Don’t worry about it, okay? I struggle with all four of them alone, too. So it’s not like I’m magically better-“

“Except you are,” Magnus countered, and Alec kissed his cheek.

“If I have to go out and leave you alone again, I’ll call Clary or Luke to come help you,” he promised, and Magnus relaxed some in his arms. 

Magnus snuggled into him, rubbing his cheek against Alec’s chest. “I love you,” he said softly and Alec kissed his forehead. “I’d totally blow you right now if I thought I wouldn’t fall asleep in the middle of it.”

Alec snorted, squeezing Magnus in a hug. “I’m good, thanks,” he chuckled. He tipped Magnus’s chin up and kissed him sweetly. “You go get dressed and I’ll go talk to Max, okay?”

Magnus nodded and wrapped his towel around his waist as he went to go get dressed.

~

Alec knocked on Max’s door. “Max? Rafael?”

The door opened and Rafael looked relieved as he hugged Alec around the waist. “ _Te quiero_ , Dad.”

Alec leaned down, kissing the top of his head. “Love you, too,” he murmured before looking up and sighing when he saw Max curled up on his bed, snuffling into his long-beloved Cookie Monster. He patted Rafael’s back and nodded to the hall. “Wanna do me a big favor and go sit with the twins in the living room? They’re sleeping, but Papa’s getting some new clothes and they’re all alone. We don’t want Chairman Meow deciding to eat their little toes,” he said and Rafael rolled his eyes but did what he said. 

Alec walked over to Max and sat on the bed. “Maxi?” he asked softly, reaching out to touch his hair. He brushed a finger through his hair, his heart twisting when he saw the tears still in Max’s eyes. “Blueberry, c’mon.” 

Max looked up, sniffling. “I hurt her,” he whispered and Alec shook his head, quickly laying down beside Max to hug him to his chest.

“No, Blueberry, no,” he sighed, kissing his forehead. “Jamila is totally fine. I promise.”

Max whimpered, closing his eyes. “I dropped her and she cried.”

“She was scared, that’s all,” Alec comforted. “Wouldn’t you be scared if somebody dropped you? But she’s fine.”

“I’m a bad big brother,” he said in a tiny voice that was absolutely devastating. “I’m a bad big brother, Dad.”

Alec shook his head, tucking a curl behind Max’s little ear. “ _No_ ,” he said firmly. “You just had an accident. Everybody has accidents. And most babies get dropped at some point, even if grown-ups don’t like to admit they did it,” he said. He tapped Max on the nose. “One time, I was bathing you and you slipped out of my hands and went underwater in the bathtub. I nearly drowned you. But I snatched you back up really fast and you coughed up the water, and you were totally fine.” He smiled. “You cried a _lot_ then. You were so scared. But you know what? You didn’t cry but a few minutes and then you were totally fine. Back to splashing around in the tub.”

Max looked at him with wide eyes. “But I dropped her on the _floor_. I love her and I _hurt her_!”

“And I love you and nearly drowned you,” Alec stressed. “Max, Jamila won’t hate you just because of an accident. You love your baby sisters. That doesn’t mean you can’t have an accident.”

Max sniffled, looking up at him with big, blue eyes. “But Dad, what if I hurt her again! What if I drop her or hurt her with magic or- or what if I hurt Iman instead next time? I could drop her, too!”

Alec sighed, hugging him into his chest. “Max, there is always a chance any of those things could happen. But you probably won’t. You had one accident. It’s going to be just fine. Jamila is fine and Iman is fine and honestly, you dropped her, but Papa fed her twice and made her sick, so you aren’t the only reason she was crying,” he pointed out. “Papa is her father and he hurt her a little, too. You’re seven years old, Blueberry. You just had an accident. An entirely normal one, too.”

Max curled into his chest. “I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am,” Alec stressed. “Look, how about when she wakes up from her nap, you give her her bottle? Jamila can lay in your lap and you can feed her, and she’ll forgive you entirely.”

Max nodded slowly. “You think so?”

Alec smiled, nodding. “I know so.”

After a few moments of silence Max looked up at him. “Dad? I don’t think Papa should be alone with all four of us. He sort of freaked out. A lot. I think he even cried a little.”

Alec snorted, feeling guilty at laughing at his husbands panic. “He’ll get better. You have to remember, he’s never had a baby to take care of before and now he’s got two. I haven’t left him alone with all of you guys since we got Jamila and Iman, so he is used to having another grown-up here to help out, not just two little boys. He’s a great papa to you guys, but he just doesn’t have practice doing it alone now that there are four of you and two of you are really young babies. It’s way harder to take care of two babies at one time, and he doesn’t have the experience I do because of you and your uncle. He’ll be fine after he’s got more practice with babies.”

Max giggled some. “Maybe next time you need to leave us all with Papa, me and Rafael should take care of one baby and he can take care of the other one. I know I dropped her, but Rafael’s bigger and stronger. He could hold her and I could read her a story so Papa can take care of the other one.”

Alec smiled and nodded. “See? You guys already have some good ideas on how to help Papa next time.” He grinned. “But for now, I think we should probably go see if Papa fell asleep putting on clean clothes, because if he sleeps now, he won’t sleep all night.”

Max giggled. “Like the babies?”

“Exactly like the babies,” he said, climbing off the bed. Max got up and followed him and Alec ruffled his hair between his horns as he ran off in front of him. 

Alec hung back for a moment and pulled out his phone, making a call. “Hey James? I think I need to take some more time off. I’m pretty sure I came back from parental leave a little too early. I know you guys need me, but my family needs me more right now.”

Alec heard one of the babies wake up and cry and started that way without another thought. “How about we try another two weeks,” he said into the phone, smiling as heard the other baby wake up and felt even more sure about his decision.


End file.
